Man convicted of terror ties

PHOENIX - An Arizona man was convicted Thursday of a terror charge tied to an attack last spring on a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas, marking the second conviction in the U.S. related to the Islamic State group.

Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, an American-born Muslim convert, also was found guilty of providing the guns two of his friends used to open fire outside the anti-Islam event in suburban Dallas. The two Islamic State followers died in a police shoot-out and a security guard was wounded May 3. No one else was injured.

He was convicted of a conspiracy charge related to plotting the attack as well as conspiring to provide support to the Islamic State group. Authorities say Kareem and the two gunmen, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, had researched travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters.

It was the second time a person was tried in the U.S. on charges related to the group. A trial in New York ended a week ago with a guilty verdict against a U.S. military veteran charged with attempting to join Islamic State.

Kareem's attorney, Daniel Maynard, declined to comment after the verdict.

Federal authorities said the conviction demonstrates their commitment to combating terrorism.

Assistant U.S. Attorney General John Carlin, head of the U.S. Justice Department's national security division, said the agency "will continue to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who conspire with others to support foreign terrorist organizations and to commit acts of violence."

Kareem, who faces a maximum prison term of 45 years, is scheduled to be sentenced June 27.